Molybdenum oxide nanorods were prepared via infrared irradiation heating a Mo foil directly in air and deposited over alumina transducers equipped with Pt heater and IDC contacts in order to investigate their gas sensing properties. It was found that these sensors exhibited better performances compared to their 3D counterpart; MoO3 nanorods were characterized by high response to ethanol and CO, making them promising candidates for gas sensing applications. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.